FW3A mod thread. Post yours!

As proposed in other FW3A topic, the behavior difference may be due to presence of lube on the threads. Given the initial contact trouble I had with mine out of the box, which cleared up with a few loosen/tighten movements. I’m guessing that this action pushed away enough lube to make a good contact but then breaks contact with a slight rotation of the tail cap, instead of maintaining current flow for up to 3 full loosening turns.

I’m already abusing this light even more than I had planned to… :smiling_imp:

Now running 2x stock XP-L HI 3D and 1x LH351D 5000K sliced. Output and throw kept pretty intact from the 2 XPLs while the 351D definitely helps the temp and tint a bit for my preferences.

Can only really compare the brightness of each individual emitter on the very low end of the ramp but from the tests I’ve seen the Vf on these should actually be pretty similar. Frosted lens means I can only see differences in temp/tint with the light an inch or less from a white surface.

The LH351Ds are 70CRI, correct? Then, yes, the VF is pretty similar.

No. Dogfarts are a very specific product… Samsung LH351D SPHWHTL3DA0GF4RTS6. They’re 90 CRI, not 70 CRI.

https://www.arrow.com/en/products/sphwhtl3da0gf4rts6/samsung-electronics

Nope, 90CRI “DOGFARTS” and now I realize the Vf/current charts I was looking at were actually for LH351 C so back to the drawing board I guess.

Yeah, the LH351Ds 90CRI have quite the lower VF.

Didn’t notice the DOGFARTS.


Just some GITD tape. No, I didn’t coat the light in black — it’s still gray (just a lighting trick due to contrast balance to show GITD tape). :wink:

At first I had a wider band on the tube, then shortened it… and now I’m thinking I may narrow the tube strip to match the width of the tail cap strip, or take it off altogether (leaving just the tail cap). The tail cap one was cut to fit nicely in the groove, so no concern of handling that might dislodge it.

EDIT:
Yeah, thinner is better.

Also discovered that 1 strip is more aesthetically pleasing:

/\ . That looks neat! :beer:

I modded mine, even more than I really wanted to but one thing lead to another.

I put a LED4Power triple MCPCB in (1.5mm) with 3x Nichia 219B. I replaced the wires with 20G and reflashed the light with TK’s 219B version of Anduril. I also installed a drilled optic with 3x orange trits.

Some modding tips for this light:

My LED4Power triple MCPCB had to be VERY lightly sanded. The flat edges of the MCPCB stuck out just enough to not want to drop in. I used 1000 grit and it took like 2 minutes to just smooth those edges.

I tried to use the stock wires but they are cut to the exact length the stock MCPCB needs and my positive lead could not reach the pad. If you replace the MCPCB have a contingency plan to replace the wires too if they don’t reach!

When you take the driver out you will see the LED wires are right next to each other dead center on the board. When I went to de-solder the negative lead it’s hard to get my usual chisel tip in there and I ended up pulling up the pad just a little as the wire came free. So maybe use extra flux and a smaller tip you have one. Clean it with a toothbrush and alcohol after.

When you re-solder the leads they need to be straight up. The driver sits right against the shelf so you wont be able to tuck them anywhere and if they wick too much solder cause you used a too fat tip like me then it wont want to sit flush and feed through the hole. I had to re-solder mine a second time and make sure they were straight up and down.

The LED positive wire sits a bit close to the MCU. I was still able to fit the clip on with my larger 20G wire in place but it was resting against it and just barely had room.


On an separate note, can someone try to torch/bake this anno to see what color is changes to? Take one for the team :slight_smile:

Thanks! It’s the cheapest, fastest mod you could probably do. :wink: I’d like to do a GITD optic insert, but sometime later on.

Modded the FW3A Cheatsheet :D

^ Thanks, CRX! :+1: Btw, the manual Toykeeper authored, in full ASCII text.

Anduril is a terrific UI. I was impressed by NarsilM when I got my S43, but now I prefer Anduril. I didn’t realize we can configure the ramping step intensities. The default has too much of a jump up from moonlight, so it’ll be good to adjust that.

do you have any comparison pics of how the light looks with the gaskets?
also could I talk you into making a teal one (50/50 blue + green powders)?

In the centre picture, top right is 50/50 green & blue.
In the right hand picture, bottom left is 50/50 green & blue.
Hard to see a difference as there isn’t much but it’s there.
Got Red & Orange glow powder on the way.
No comparison pics in lights, might be some soon.

and these are the powder in a clear base resin?

Yes.

Do you have to solder your wires really flat or does it not really matter? For example, is there plenty of room and will it noticeably look tilted?

I’ll probably grab an orange off you if it turns out nice. That’s what I used for my drilled optics, 3x orange trits

in that case I’ll take one of the 50/50,
any plans for a “swirl” version with green/red or blue/orange?

The wires need to be flat, the gaskets should be comfortable up to 20AWG but can be modified for thicker wires.
You can sand them down or enlarge the optic holes.

A swirl pattern wouldn’t really be possible due to the way they are made but a splodge pattern might work :slight_smile:

Actually you might be able to make one with a swirl pattern.

  • Make a completely flat disk of glow material with no cutouts. When you pour the material for this disk add the other color and swirl it a bit for pattern. Cure.
  • Then use one of the other glow disks with the cutouts as a template. Lay it on the swirl disk and use a pencil to outline all the holes.
  • Use a drill and hand file to make the cutouts.

Would take a lot of effort though.